Summer Blog Hop 2016 — My Reading Corner

When this book was bought to my attention by Aria Books, it appealed straight away and off I went to Amazon to add it to my Kindle.  I’m delighted to be taking part in Faith Hogan’s Summer Blog Hop, with a guest post from the author.

I was always going to be a crime writer. I had it in my bones, so to speak. After all, I grew up reading adventures – like the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. You could keep your Worst Witch and Mallory Towers, thanks all the same. I loved adventure. I loved mystery. I loved trying to solve it before the sleuth did.

As I got older, I moved on to Agatha Christie first, then Arthur Conan Doyle to be followed by writers from every corner of the world who had only one thing in common – that’s right, dead bodies and a puzzle to solve. I loved them, one and all. From the frozen Scandinavian landscapes to the baking heat of South Africa, from the dark industrial depths of the U.S. mid states to the university town of Oxford. If there was a crime to solve, a new detective to read, I was on it.

And so I wrote mysteries. I wrote crime novels. I wrote police procedurals. I had dead bodies galore, dizzying twists and turns, high concept plots and strong characterisation – the only thing was, they just didn’t hit lucky with a publisher.

After writing three (I thought) great books, my agent, took me aside, and gently persuaded me to do something ‘different.’ It took a while to get my head around what I could write. After all, you need to be well read before you can take on a novel, don’t you?

When I sat down and began to think of what I might write, there were a few things I knew I enjoyed in a book that could translate easily into any genre.

I like great characters. I like to feel as if I’ve gotten to know the people I’m taking into bed with me most nights! I need to care about what happens to them and if I like them, I need them to be okay at the end of the book.

I need to feel there’s a story worth reading. In other words, I need to feel like there’s a reason to keep turning the pages – after all, there are plenty of books out there to choose from if I’m not enjoying this one.

Finally, there needs to be a twist – somewhere along the way, preferably near the end, there needs to be something that catches me by surprise so I put down the book thinking – Well, I didn’t see that coming!

Did I manage to fulfil all of these things with My Husband’s Wives? I’m not sure – I guess that’s up to the reader to decide! What I will say is this; the book started with the question – What If? And I’m very happy with where it ended!

Many thanks to Karen for having me on her lovely blog!

Faith Hogan x

One man, three wives, too many secrets. A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship. A compelling debut that fans of Freya North will love.

Paul Starr, Ireland’s leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young women by his side.

United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

The love they shared for Paul in his life and which incensed a feeling of mistrust and dislike for each other, in his death turns into the very thing that bonds them and their children to each other, forever.

As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul’s death proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.

About the author:

Faith Hogan was born in Ireland.  She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.  She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.

She was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international competition for emerging writers.
Her debut novel, ‘My Husband’s Wives,’ is a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in Dublin. It was published by Aria, (Head of Zeus) on 1 May 2016. She is currently working on her next novel.

Follow Faith on Twitter at @gerhogan or like her onFacebook.comFaithhoganauthor/ or, if you’re really interested, you can catch up with her on www.faithhogan.com